Juan Martin del Potro continues his quest for a second ATP Masters 1000 title when he takes on Borna Coric in a U.S. Open rematch in the Shanghai Rolex Masters Round of 16 on Thursday night.

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World No. 4 Juan Martin del Potro defeated Borna Coric in straight sets at the U.S. Open last month - can the Argentine repeat that result and advance into the Shanghai Rolex Masters quarter-finals on Thursday, or will the Croatian avenge that defeat and move into his third Masters 1000 quarter-final of the season?

Arriving in Shanghai following a loss to Nikoloz Basilashvili in the China Open final and suffering from a cold, del Potro somehow staged two superb comebacks in each set against former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet to emerge triumphant in their second round battle in straight sets on Wednesday. Del Potro won four straight games from 3-5 down in the opening set and then recovered from 2-6 down in the second set tiebreak to claim a 7-5 7-6(7) victory and deny Gasquet his best win by ranking since 2015.

“It wasn't easy to play for me today,” del Potro said. “I did what I could. I didn't run too much. But I think I played with all my strength in the important moments of the match.

“I got lucky that I win, but tomorrow will be a different day. If I have a good night today and I have a good recovery tomorrow morning, maybe I will feel a little bit better for tomorrow night and play better than today. But I'm going like hour by hour and see how I'm feeling.”

Del Potro will be hoping his cold disappears quickly so he can give himself the best possible opportunity for another deep run at the Shanghai Masters. The 30-year-old reached the final back in 2013 as he claimed a win over World No. 1 Rafael Nadal before falling to World No. 2 Novak Djokovic in a third set tiebreak, while he also made the semi-finals last year, beating World No. 4 Alexander Zverev before going down to eventual champion Roger Federer in three sets.

Currently 47-12 for the season, del Potro has compiled his best year on tour since winning the 2009 U.S. Open title, finishing runner-up at Flushing Meadows last month to Novak Djokovic, beating Roger Federer for his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells and winning the ATP 500 Abierto Mexicano Telcel in Acapulco, beating three top 10 players on the bounce. Del Potro has also made the final of Auckland, Los Cabos and Beijing, reached semi-finals at Roland Garros and Miami and quarter-finals at Wimbledon and Cincinnati in a hugely consistent season - and that consistency was rewarded with del Potro securing a spot at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in London for the first time since 2013 last week. Can the Argentine continue his great form and return to the Shanghai quarter-finals on Thursday night?

Borna Coric (Photo by WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images)

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Borna Coric will have other ideas. Playing in the Shanghai Masters main draw for the first time since 2015, Coric registered a notable victory over three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka in the opening round before easing past American qualifier Bradley Klahn 6-4 6-2 to advance into the Round of 16. Coric’s last visit to the Masters 1000 tournament saw him lose in the final round of qualifying last year to Henri Laaksonen, but the Croatian has improved significantly over the last 12 months, climbing from outside the top 50 to a current career-high ranking of No. 18 - and he’s far from done with his rise.

After linking up with Riccardo Piatti and Kristijan Schneider and also bringing in Roger Federer’s coach and former World No. 3 Ivan Ljubicic as a manager, Coric has registered numerous eye-catching results this year, most notably defeating Roger Federer to win the biggest title of his career at the ATP 500 Gerry Weber Open in Halle, while the 21-year-old also made the semi-finals of Indian Wells and the quarter-finals of Miami, along with reaching the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time at the U.S. Open before going down to del Potro in the fourth round.

Coric proceeded to help Croatia advance into the Davis Cup final against the USA, but he did struggled in Asia before arriving in Shanghai, losing in the first rounds of Shenzhen and Beijing respectively to Cameron Norrie and Feliciano Lopez respectively. However, Coric is back in form in reaching the Round of 16 and will be determined to avenge his U.S. Open loss on Thursday.

Del Potro is obviously the favourite if he’s fully healthy, but will he be? Gasquet is the type of player these days that can’t really impose himself on the best players in the world from a winning position, but Coric is young and hungry and won’t miss many balls from the baseline if he senses del Potro is struggling physically. It all depends on del Potro’s fitness - but it’s been almost a week since he first showed symptoms, and after the way he came back against Gasquet, I think he will be okay and topple Coric again to return to the Shanghai quarter-finals.